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Woodstock Mountain Bike Fellowship

A Source of Truth in a World of Lies

November 30, 2006

One thing that both of these items illustrate is the degree of confusion in our society. While I would like to believe that everyone takes a perfectly logical approach to life (collecting a complete data set and processing it with unbiased mental models), it's pretty obviously not the case. In fact, I would suggest that everyone filters their input data and evaluates it in a limited way. I wish that I could claim to be perfectly unbiased, but like others who make such a claim, I would obviously be constrained by my own cultural conditioning, limited understanding, and proud arrogance. While I recognize this limitation, I also don't want to give up trying.

A few weeks ago, we established the truth that God exists. As we said at the end of that lesson, the key question about God goes beyond his existence. The question is "has He spoken to us"? The same question that the serpent asked Eve echoes in our ears today, "Did God really say, ..."?

There are many religions and belief systems around the world, each with their own founder/leader and their own book(s) claiming divine inspiration. We've already demonstrated the fact that all religions are different and exclusive, so how can we determine which one is right?

Please understand me: The words that I speak today are not an attempt to discredit a particular group of people or slander anyone. I simply want to differentiate between truth and error. While some people might classify this as intolerance, I believe that we each understand that truth does matter. The Bible is very clear when describing other religions, making the claim that it deserves complete and unshared allegiance:

Psalm 96:4,5 (page 426) For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

The Bible claims that it is literally "God breathed", written by men but directed by God:

2 Timothy 3:16,17 (page 843) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

In view of these very exclusive claims, how should we view other religious books that claim to exclusively present truth about God? I chose two books for consideration based on a question from our list:

Question #1 – Is there evidence for inspiration of the Qur'an and the Book of Mormon?

These two books represent some pretty extreme positions in world religions and cultures. The Book of Mormon represents a very fast growing global religion, building new temples and sending missionaries all around the world. Unlike Mormonism which tends to avoid governmental connections, Islam often grows by military and political power.

The Book of Mormon was produced by a single man (Joseph Smith) through secret events (the discovery and interpretation of golden plates). To accept the book of Mormon takes an incredible amount of faith. You must trust that what Joseph Smith said is true, in spite of the fact that you cannot see the golden plates and that his ministry wasn't particularly exemplary. Unlike the authors of the Bible who performed attesting miracles in the presence of thousands of people, Joseph Smith performed no miracles and made inaccurate prophecies.

Even if you assume that Joseph Smith is a victim of slander and prejudice, does the Book of Mormon stand the test of truth?

There are numerous problems with the history expressed in the Book of Mormon. It describes three migrations of people from the Middle East to America. The first occurred around 2247 BC, at approximately the time of the Tower of Babel when the Lord scattered the people abroad over the face of all the earth. These people, the Jaredites, eventually died out around 600 BC with a massive battle at Hill Comorah in what is now upper New York State.

The second and third migrations occurred circa 600 BCE, between the times of the Assyrian and Babylonian victories over the Israelites. The immigrants: "established huge civilizations that stretched from sea to sea, wrote extensively using Hebrew and Egyptian, domesticated horses and cattle, cultivated many Old World plants, traveled in chariots, and smelted many metals, including iron and steel."

If such civilizations existed in America, it would seem to be a fairly easy matter to uncover evidence of them. At least that's what Thomas Stuart Ferguson thought in 1952. He was a lawyer and a devout Mormon and organized the New World Archaeological Foundation (NWAF). He reasoned that if the validity of the Book could be proven, then countless individuals would flock to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), as the true Christian church. He was convinced that the Book of Mormon was an accurate historical document and that it would be relatively easy to uncover artifacts to prove its validity. The NWAF was initially funded directly by the LDS. As each year passed, the Foundation's scientists were unable to find any evidence that would support the Book of Mormon. The LDS church reorganized the NWAF under Brigham Young University in 1960. As of 1999, it consists only of a director and assistant, active in only one excavation.

Ferguson was eventually convinced that the Book of Mormon is a work of fiction, whose contents bear no relationship to the reality of Native American civilization prior to 385 CE. The NWAF "failed to find evidence to prove the Book of Mormon, and the man who organized it...ended up losing his faith in the church."

Major research institutions in the US, including the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic, have made clear and definitive statements that no evidence has been found to conclude that the Book of Mormon is anything other than a book of fiction.

Two years ago, a thorough DNA study of the American Indians show that they are descended from inhabitants of Siberia, not from Israelites as claimed by the Book of Mormon. The poor professor (Thomas W. Murphy) who analyzed the data collected by the molecular biology project funded by Brigham Young University was almost excommunicated from the Mormon Church, rescued only by numerous vigils of supporters.

And although the Book of Mormon is held up by believers to be flawless, I find numerous things in it to be "interesting," including:

  • A prophecy that Jesus would be borne of Mary in Jerusalem (not Bethlehem) – Almah 7:10 (p.211)
  • The reason why black people have dark skin and questionable behavior – 2 Nephi 5:21,24 (p.61)
  • Claims of the deity of Christ (contrary to other Mormon teaching) – Mosiah 15:1-4 (p.163)
  • The eternally unchanging nature of God (contrary to Mormon teaching ) – Moroni 8:18 (p.517)

As you might imagine, it takes a lot of faith in believe that the Book of Mormon is a true word from God.

Like the Book of Mormon, the Qur'an allegedly has a single author of questionable background. I say allegedly, because the earliest manuscripts of the Qur'an don't appear on the archeological scene until about 150 years after the death of Muhammad. Many of the writings appear to be draw directly from Talmudic writings of the day (embellished Biblical stories rejected as apocryphal), which is why they seem vaguely familiar to Christians who read them. Although modern day Muslims assert that the Qur'an exists today as it was verbally delivered by God to Muhammad, it was actually assembled by Zaid bin Thabit. Here is his description of the process he used: "I started looking for the Qur'an and collecting it from (what was written on) palm-leaf stalks, thin white stones, and also from the men who knew it by heart, till I found the last verse of Surat at-Tauba (repentance) with Abi Khuzaima al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other than him." Sounds kind of questionable...

Also like Joseph Smith, Muhammad doesn't perform any miracles that would attest to his authority as a messenger of God. Although he himself admits that the apostles performed miracles to attest to the truth of the Bible (Surah 3:180-181, p. 47), he refused to perform any that might show him to be more than just a regular old guy.

It might not come as a surprise that I have a few struggles with the Qur'an as well as with its author. As I read it, it has somewhat contradictory claims regarding its inspired status. In Surah 39:1,2 (p.307), the Qur'an clearly claims to be the inspired book of God, sent down from Heaven. As such, it cannot be changed (Surah 6:34 – p.83). But earlier in the book (Surah 2:100 – p.12) it allows for abrogation of earlier doctrines by later ones. Such is the case with marriage which is limited to 4 wives by Surah 4:3 (p.49), but later extended to an undetermined number for Muhammad in Surah 33:49,50 (p.281).

Like all other religious books, the Qur'an makes no specific prophecies about future events and has no external corroboration for its factuality. And while there are a number of technical difficulties with the Qur'an, probably the most challenging is the denial that Jesus was crucified and died (Surah 4:156, p.65 top of page). This is particularly challenging, since it is the most well documented event in human history, and the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Clearly, you can't believe the Bible and the Qur'an.

So how about the Bible?

Question #2: Where did the Bible come from? and Question #3: Is the Bible a trustworthy document?

A number of things stand out regarding the Bible that make it overwhelmingly unique.

The Bible is not an arcane book written by an unknown individual in the distant past. The acts of Jesus were witnessed by thousands of people and documented shortly after they occurred, available for critical review by believers and critics alike. For example:

Matthew 14:20,21 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

1 Corinthians 15:3-6 "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance£: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

Acts 26:25,26 "I am not insane, most excellent Festus," Paul replied. "What I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.

While some people might assume that the accounts of Jesus are simply legends, recognize that inadequate time had passed at the times of these writings for legends to develop. For example, King Arthur probably lived around 500AD, but nothing was written down for over 400 years, giving plenty of time for the development of legends. The Bible, on the other hand, was written down by eyewitnesses and recent interviewers (like Luke, who wrote within 25 to 40 years of the death of Jesus).

Also, note that, while the Bible is written in a style that is familiar to us today, it was totally unknown at the time. About 200 years ago, writers developed "realistic novelistic fiction," interjecting details that aren't necessary to the content of the story. Fiction, legends, and religious writings of the first millennium after Jesus never include such details – except the Bible. We take this for granted now, but at the time, it must've seemed pretty strange. Consider some of these non-essential points included in the Bible:

John 21:11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Why did they mention that there were 153 fish? It's not necessary to the story and never comes up again?

Mark 4: 37, 38 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. It really doesn't matter that Jesus was sleeping on a cushion...

Luke 8:53-55 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!" Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. "Give her something to eat" is a pretty anticlimactic way to finish this amazing miracle, unless of course, it really happened. And that's the point – the Bible is not written like any other religious book (filled with rules to obey and teachings to follow). It is a story about the life of Jesus, written accurately and with all of the details. In fact, sometimes the details might be counterproductive to the intention of people trying to convince others regarding the gospel. Consider the last few chapters from the Gospel of Mark:

Mark 14:35,36 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." What good evangelist would paint a picture of the Savior requesting deliverance from His appointed task?

Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And how many people who are trying to convince the world that Jesus is "God in the Flesh" would describe Him as being forsaken in the hour of need?

Mark 16:6-8 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'" Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

During the first century, the testimony of women was not considered to be acceptable in a court of law. Then why do you think that they were the ones to be the first witnesses of the most important miracle in the life of Jesus (his resurrection) – unless it really happened this way?

As I hinted at earlier, of all the major religious books, only the Bible makes specific prophecies of future events. In fact, the Old Testament alone makes over 2000 very specific prophecies. This is important, since God claims that it is an indicator of the power of the true God:

Isaiah 46:9-11 (page 518) Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.

God doesn't just predict what will happen, He makes it happen according to His will. In the same way, the true word of the Lord can be discerned by the accuracy thereof:

Deuteronomy 18:21,22 (page 139) You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

A few examples of amazingly accurate prophecies:

1) Cyrus would rebuild the temple

About 700BC, Isaiah prophesied that Cyrus would rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem:

Isaiah 44:24-28 (page 516) "24This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be built,' and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,' who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,' who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid."'

This was pretty amazing, considering the fact that, at the time, the temple was still standing and Cyrus wouldn't be borne for another 150 years. But just as God said:

Ezra1:1-3 (page 334) "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia (538BC), in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.

2) Tyre would be destroyed and become a fishing spot

Around 600 BC, Ezekiel foretold the destruction of the mighty city of Tyre:

Ezekiel 26:3-6 (page 605) therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. She will become plunder for the nations, and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

This prophecy is interesting for its degree of detail, specifically stating that it would be destroyed, the rubble would be scraped away, and would ultimately become a place where fishnets are spread. The fulfillment is an interesting history:

  • for a number of years around 580BC, Babylon (under Nebuchadnezer) laid siege to the city, during which time the people retreated to an island fortress half a mile off-shore.
  • In 332BC, Alexander the Great's army was determined to conquer the island city, and took all of the rubble from Tyre and threw it into the sea, building a causeway to the island and destroying the city there.
  • The old city now forms an underwater reef, a favorite fishing spot.

3) The Jews would be scattered among the nations, but ultimately return to a homeland

At the beginning of his covenant with Israel, God promised that if they rejected Him, He would scatter them among the nations:

Leviticus 26:33 (page 91) "I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins."

Many years later, the prophet Ezekiel gave them the assurance that the would return to the mountains of their original homeland by the power of God:

Ezekiel 36:8-10 (page 613) "But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

This is especially interesting in that many of the nations that existed as peers among Israel have long since been forgotten – the Hittites, Philistines, Amonites, Hivites, Jebusites, etc. But we now know that this prophecy came true, when after being scattered around the world for almost two millennia, the nation of Israel came into re-existence in 1948.

4) Of course, since the central message of the Bible is about Jesus, there are many prophecies about the promised Savior:

  • His birthplace (700 years in advance)
  • His exact time of entry to Jerusalem (560 years in advance)
  • Betrayal for 30 pieces of silver (500 years in advance)
  • His death by crucifixion (800 years in advance)
  • Resurrection and ascension (800 years in advance)

Unlike the Book of Mormon, evidence from archeology supports the Bible's truthfulness.

Prior to the 19th century, many of the people and places of the Old Testament were completely unknown to the world of science and history. This was true to the point that many skeptics arose and began to accuse the Bible of being a collection of legends and stories.

But then, people started digging in the Middle Eastern sand. With the rapid growth of archeology, many of the cities and places mentioned in the Bible began to be found. Over the past two centuries, over 25000 sites have been discovered that confirm Biblical details, while none have been found to refute them. In fact, since the Bible gives such detailed descriptions of the places, it is now often used as the guidebook to piece together the archeological puzzle. Some of the specific discoveries include:

  • Mari Tablets (20,000 tablets) – describe the same traditions that Abraham followed
  • Ebla Tablets (20,000 tablets) – describe a law similar to Deuteronomy, and mention the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar.
  • Cyrus Cylinder – Authenticates the Biblical description of Cyrus' decree

Science continues to validate the truth spelled out in the early pages of the Bible. In a recent newspaper I read a report on the latest use of data from the human genome project. A DNA study was done of a large sample of Europeans, finding that they did not evolve simultaneously on several continents as previously thought. Instead, what they found was that a group of people left Africa not long ago (they said 25,000 years) and populated the European continent. I won't be surprised if other similar studies find similar results, validating the truth of the story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11.

If God really did speak to humanity through a book that was completed almost 2000 years ago, it seems reasonable that He would take steps to transmit and preserve its accuracy throughout the centuries. If you examine the Bible, it also stands unique in this respect:

Prior to 1950, the oldest existing copy of the Old Testament was the Massoretic Text, dating back to 900AD. Then a shepherd boy found the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were sealed in jars prior to the coming of Jesus. And the power of God to preserve His word was evident, for the copies were virtually identical.

As for the New Testament, there are almost 24,000 partial or complete copies of the original manuscripts still in existence which date back to the century immediately following Christ's death. This is a remarkable thing, since most writings from antiquity only have a few copies, and many of those were produced hundreds of years after the death of the writer. In fact, careful extraction of Bible verses from the writings of early church leaders can be used to reconstruct all but 11 verses in the entire New Testament. The good news about these many original copies is that they agree with one another 99.5% of the time, and the slight disagreements are only in regard to spelling or word order.

Many attempts have been made to completely eliminate the Bible from existence. In AD303, Diocletion burned every Bible that could be found and killed many of the Christians who owned them. His attack on the Bible seemed so successful, that he erected a column with an inscription that "the name of Christians has been extinguished." But only ten years later, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire.

Voltaire, a famous 18th century French philosopher attacked the Bible and said it would be forgotten in 50 years. But 50 years later, the Geneva Bible Society was using Voltaire's printing press to print Bibles.

Hopefully by now, you can see that the Bible stands out as unique among all religious works:

  • It was written by 40 different authors from all walks of life
  • Containing 66 unique books
  • Written over a period of 1500 years
  • Penned in 3 different languages
  • Written in over 13 different countries

Yet the Bible has amazing unity in key issues of doctrine, ethics, faith, and salvation. It is clear that this didn't result from a grand conspiracy to create a credible document, since many of the writers were rejected by the popular culture of the day that acted as the caretakers of the Old Testament.

Since its very beginning, the Bible has been focused on a central theme: sinful people are separated from their Creator, and He will send a redeemer to bring them back. It always was and continues to be the story of Jesus. There are pictures (types) of Christ throughout the Old Testament, including the Passover Lamb, the snake on the pole in the wilderness, the simulated sacrifice/resurrection of Isaac by Abraham, Jonah being in the belly of the great fish for 3 days, etc. There are direct prophecies about the coming Messiah, including His birthplace (Bethlehem), His death for sins (by crucifixion), and His resurrection (in power as King of Kings). And in the New Testament, we find the continuation of this thread in fulfillment by Jesus Christ.

A few other thoughts that are worthy of note

If the early Christians had come from almost any other culture (most of which were polytheistic), it wouldn't have been a big surprise that they accepted Jesus to be who He said He was. But the Jews were a rabidly monotheistic culture, one that stoned people at the hint of departing from the notion that Jehovah was the only true God. The way that their entire culture rapidly shifted to the notion that Jesus was Messiah, God in the flesh, changing their worship from the Sabbath to Sunday, can only mean one thing – He was who He claimed to be.

Lots of people are waiting for a watertight argument to prove that Jesus is really God before they will believe in Him. What if God didn't choose to do that, and instead, sent the perfect One as His evidence of love and salvation? What if He didn't choose to send a logical, philosophical proof of His creative purpose for mankind, and instead, sent His "light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Cor 4:6)? Will people wait their entire lives for something that is not coming, while rejecting the very wonderful one that God has sent?

Yes, Jesus was a servant teacher. But He also claimed to be the creator of the universe, that He was alive before Abraham, that He will be the judge of the whole universe. This is a story – not a set of rules to obey. We are not called to obey Jesus' teach for salvation, we are shown that He is the Savior of the world which must be received. It's not the teachings of Jesus that save you – it's the actions of Jesus that save you.

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